Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, and Appeal Court President Paul Harrison will be retiring next year. Speculation is rife in legal circles as to who will succeed them.
The names being canvassed for the top judicial posts are Court of Appeal Judge Seymour Panton, who was this month conferred with the national honour of Order of Distinction (Commander Class) for outstanding service to the judiciary; Mr. Hugh Small, Q.C., a former government minister and former judge of the Supreme Court of The Bahamas; and Solicitor General Michael Hylton, Q.C., O.J.
It is reported that Kent Pantry, Q.C., Director of Public Prosecutions, will be demitting office next year also. If he does, and Senior Deputy DPP Paula Llewellyn succeeds him, she would become the first woman in Jamaica to hold the top post.
Political appointments
The posts of Chief Justice and President of the Court of Appeal are political appointments. The Prime Minister, after consultation with the Leader of the Opposition, recommends to the Governor-General the persons to be appointed.
Several senior lawyers have described Panton, Hylton and Small as being "suitable successors" of "great intellectual ability," and with "strong administrative skills."
The president of the Court of Appeal is not usually appointed from the Court of Appeal Bench. For instance, in 1976, Attorney-General, Leacroft Robinson, now deceased, was appointed president. He served until 1985. Former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General Carl Rattray was appointed president of the Court of Appeal in 1993, serving until 1999.
The retirement age for judges of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court is 70. Chief Justice Wolfe will be 70 in June and Appeal Court President Paul Harrison, who was conferred with the national honour of The Order of Jamaica on National Heroes' Day, will be 70 in July.
The Chief Justice, who is acknowledged in legal circles as "very hard-working," has not taken vacation leave since he was appointed to the helm of the judiciary in July 1996.
It appears that he might spend the time he has left on the bench in the Gun Court, where he has been sitting since March in an effort to clear the huge backlog of cases there. But there are reports that he could be going on pre-retirement leave as early as December.
Since Independence in 1962 , the Chief Justice, who is head of the Judiciary, has been appointed from the Appeal Court Bench. They are Sir Colin McGregor, 1957-1963; Sir Rowland Phillips, 1963-1968; Sir Herbert Duffus, 1968-1973; Justice Kenneth Smith, 1973-1985; Justice Edward Zacca, July 1985 to July 1996, and Justice Lensley Wolfe, July 1996 to the present.
